President, Arkansas State University
President, Jonesboro Industrial Development Corporation
President, Greater Jonesboro Chamber of Commerce
Chairman, Jonesboro City Council Finance Committee
Eugene W. Smith, was Born in Forrest City, Arkansas on 10 June, 1930. He was a Distinguished Military Graduate from Arkansas State in 1952 with a BA in Accounting and a commission in the Field Artillery. After serving as an artillery officer in the Korean Conflict, he was a student and research assistant at the University of Mississippi, where he earned his Master of Education degree in 1955 and his Doctor of Education in 1958. From 1958 to 1984 he served at ASU in positions ranging from instructor, to professor, to dean of the Graduate School and vice president. In 1984 he became the university’s president, and for eight years he led ASU through one of its greatest eras of growth and prosperity. In 1992 he retired, but in 1994, upon the death of ASU’s interim president, Dr. Smith was called back to duty as ASU’s president until 1995. Throughout these years Dr. Smith also served as president of the Jonesboro Industrial Development Corporation, president of the Chamber of Commerce, City Council member, and chairman of the City Council Finance Committee.
